Astragal mounted flush bolt

ABSTRACT

A POSITIVE LOCKING BOLT IS INSTALLED IN AN ASTRAGAL FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE EDGE OF A DOOR, PARTICULARLY THE LEAST USED HALF OF A DOUBLE DOOR, WITH THE MAXIMUM CROSS SECTION OF THE BOLT IN THE PLANE OF DOOR MOTION. THE BOLT ACTUATING LEVER IS ACCESSIBLE, EVEN WITH BOTH DOORS CLOSED, AND IS POSITIONED AT CONVENIENT HEIGHT FROM THE FLOOR REGARDLESS OF THE HEIGHT OF THE DOORS.

W. w. MILLER ASTRAGAL MOUNTED FLUSH BOLT Filed Oct. 25. 1968 INVEN'IOR. WALLACE W. MILLER United States Patent O 3,556,573 ASTRAGAL MOUNTED FLUSH BOLT Wallace W. Miller, 145 N. 3rd St., El Cajon, Calif. 92021 Filed Oct. 25, 1968, Ser. No. 770,606 Int. Cl. E05c N06 US. Cl. 292-143 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A positive locking bolt is installed in an astragal for attachment to the edge of a door, particularly the least used half of a double door, with the maximum cross section of the bolt in the plane of door motion. The bolt actuating lever is accessible, even with both doors closed, and is positioned at convenient height from the floor regardless of the height of the doors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to hardware and specifically to an astragal mounted flush bolt.

In double door installations it is usual for one half of the doorway to be in general use, while the other half is closed except when full access is needed. The least used half of the door is secured at its inner edge by bolt at the top and/ or bottom. This can be a simple slide bolt mouted externally or a flush bolt inset in the door. The latter requires accurate cutting of the door for installation and the actuation lever is commonly in the edge of the door, being inaccessible when both door halves are closed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The flush bolt described herein is incorporated entirely into an astragal, which is attached to the edge of a door without any special cutting of the door. A bolt can be located at the top or bottom of a door, or both, and the actuating lever for the upper bolt is at a convenient height from the fioor, regardless of the height of the door. Theactuating lever for the bolt is in the side of the astragal and is accessible even with the door closed, the maximum cross section of the bolt being substantially in the plane of motion of the door by strength.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of astragal with the bolt installed;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view thereof, partially cut away;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the views of the drawing.

DESCRIPTION 'OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The astragal 10 is basically a shallow 'U-shaped channel having a front wall 12 with rearwardly extending side walls 14 and 16. The rear edges of side Walls 14 and 16 are shaped in a suitable manner to provide decorative retaining ribs 1 8, which straddle the edge and engage the opposite sides of a door 20, indicated in broken line. Forward of ribs 18 the side walls have inwardly projecting opposed flanges 22. At one side of front wall 12 is a forwardly extending stop flange 24 with a channel 26 to hold a Weatherstrip 28. Extruded astragals of this type are available in various sizes and trim configurations to fit standard doors, and specific details of design are not critical. Screw holes 30 are provided at suitable locations for attachment to the door. Since the structure is intended primarly for mounting on the least used half of a double door, a striker plate, not shown, would be mounted at the appropriate location on front wall 12, for engagement with a conventional lock set installed in the other door panel.

Inside astragal 10 is a channel frame 32, having a back plate 34 with forwardly extending, spaced parallel channel walls 36 which form a channel for the sliding bolt assembly. Back plate 34 bears on flanges 22 and channel walls 36 extend forward to bear on the rear of front wall 12 for rigidity, the channel frame being a sliding fit in the astragal.

At a suitably accessible position the side wall 16 is cut and portions-are bent inwardly to form inclined ramps 38 and '40, with an opening 42 therebetween. Mounted in the opening 42 is a actuating lever 44, pivotally held on a pin 46 secured perpendicularly through front wall 12 and into back wall 34. The actuating lever swings vertically and seats against ramps 38 and 40 in the upper and lower positions, respectively, with just sufficient of tip 48 protruding for the fingers to grasp, as in .FIG. 2. Slidably mounted between the channel walls 36 is a slide block 50,, portions of the channel walls being cut away for clearance at the location of actuating lever 44. Slide block 50; has a pair of lugs 52 projecting from the side toward the actuating lever, and between the lugs in a deep socket 54. The inner end of actuating lever 44 has a cam portion 56 which fits into socket 54 and causes the slide block 50 to slide vertically as the lever swings, the basic mechanism being Well known. Portions of the slide block are cut away to reduce frictional contact area With the channel walls.

To provide positive positioning of the bolt mechanism a return folded spring 58 is fixed at one end to the slide block 50, the free arm 60 of the spring bearing against cam portion 56. The spring will thus be compressed when the actuating lever is operated and will extend to hold the lever in either retracted position. The lower end of the slide block has a longitudinal slot 62 to provide clearance for the spring.

At the upper end of slide block 50 is a hook portion 64, which inter-fits with a similar hook portion 66 at the lower end of bolt 68, so that the bolt and slide block move together. Bolt 68 is smoothly slidable between channel walls 36 and is rectangular in cross section, with the maximum width in a direction parallel to the plane of front plate 12. The greatest strength of the bolt is thus in the direction of motion of the door for maximum security. By using a bolt made separately from the actuating mechanism, the lever can be at a convenient height above the floor regardless of the door height, the bolt being of the appropriate length to reach the top of the door.

In FIG. 2 the mechanism is shown in full line in the open position, withthe bolt retracted. The broken lines" show the bolt partially extended to the near closed position. It will be obvious that the mechanism could be installed in inverted position in the bottom of a door, instead of or in addition to the top bolt.

The accessibility of the actuating lever is particularly advantageous in the event of an emergency.

If, for some reason, the doors are locked, the bolt or bolts can be opened and the doors can then be burst open since the usual inter-door lock set will disengage when both doors swing.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention and that the specification and drawing are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

What is claimed is:

1. An astragal and flush bolt combination for a door or the like comprising:

a channel-like astragal with a front wall (12) and side walls (16) to straddle the vertical edge of a door and extending generally parallel to the face of the door and having means (18) for attachment to the door;

a bolt vertically slidably mounted in said astragal;

an actuating lever pivotally mounted in said astragal and projecting through one of said side walls (16) to swing normal to and outwardly from a face of the door;

said lever being operatively connected with said bolt to move the bolt between an open position projecting from the end of the astragal.

2. The structure of claim 1, and including a channel frame (32) having spaced channel walls (36) defining a longitudinal box-like channel in said astragal, said bolt being slidable in said channel.

3. The structure of claim 2, wherein said means for attachment to a door is a retaining rib (18) constituting an extension of each of said side walls, said side Walls having opposed inwardly projecting flanges (32), and said channel frame being longitudinally slidable into said astragal during assembly and held in place by said opposed flanges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 654,106 7/1900 Adams 292139 967,377 8/1910 Henry 292142 1,162,795 12/1915 Matthews 292-14O 2,793,892 5/ 1957 Hutterer 292-36 2,815,975 12/1957 Check et al 292-143 FOREIGN PATENTS 551,105 2/1943 Great Britain 292-143 744,370 1/ 1933 France 29240 748,188 4/1956 Great Britain 292143 826,710 1/1952 Germany 292-40 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner R. L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 292337 

